


Make Believe (Safe Haven Remix)

by sebastian2017



Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: (or more like protect Erik 1962 I guess), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Beach Divorce, Charles is secretly a badass, Erik Has Feelings, M/M, protect Erik 2k19
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-05-16 18:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19323670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sebastian2017/pseuds/sebastian2017
Summary: Moira's bullet does tear through someone's spine that day in Cuba, but it's not Charles'.Erik can't help but feel like this isn't how things should be going, even if Charles is looking after him.





	Make Believe (Safe Haven Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IreneADonovan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IreneADonovan/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Safe Haven](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11214066) by [IreneADonovan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IreneADonovan/pseuds/IreneADonovan). 



> CW: guns, hospitals

It’s a testament to how out of order his mind is that he gets distracted enough for something like this to happen. Of all the things that might wound Erik… a metal bullet should be at the bottom of that list. He can stop a bullet. He can probably stop several hundred bullets simultaneously. It must be a sign of how deeply Charles’ affects his mental state that he gets distracted enough to drown out the whole world except Charles and be jarringly back to it when he’s laid across the sand with a horrible, sharp pain at his back. Erik knows what a bullet feels like. Even if he didn’t, he can feel it perfectly well with his powers. 

 

(Why he hadn’t felt it far enough in advance to stop it is a mystery, but he doesn’t even consider that Charles might have manipulated him in any way. Charles has always softened him around the edges in the worst of ways. Erik isn’t surprised to see that Charles has managed so thorough an influence that he’s led Erik to be as useless as a human.)

 

In the shock and pain of it all, the missiles under his control had fallen into the ocean. It’s a disappointment, but Erik is rather distracted as he gets pulled onto Charles’ lap. The jostling movement is horribly painful, but Erik suppresses any sort of cy, lest Charles start feeling guilty about the whole thing. Erik doesn’t need pity. He needs a discrete doctor and some whiskey. 

 

“Oh, God. Erik… Don’t move, it’s okay. You’ll be okay,” Charles mumbles, settling them so Erik’s head is leaned up against his chest and shoulder. The encouragements seem to be more for Charles’ sake, but Erik doesn’t comment on that. 

 

“Your darling humans are okay. I’m sure you’re overjoyed,” Erik comments. He tries to laugh, but it worsens the pain, so he settles for nothing more than a bitter smile. 

 

Charles doesn’t find it funny in the slightest. “Don’t be ridiculous, you fool. I never wanted any harm to come to you, Erik.” 

 

“Bit late for that.” Erik reaches an arm behind him and winces as he calls the bullet to himself with his powers, leaving it crumbled up in his hand. He glances around them and realizes everyone else on the beach is frozen into place. He’s seen this before and he looks at Charles knowingly. “I shouldn’t be worried that you’ve incapacitated all our witnesses, should I? Not planning on finishing the job, are you?”

 

“Oh. I… I panicked,” he explains. 

 

A moment later, they all unfreeze and there’s a sudden mad scramble on the beach. Everyone wants to be at Erik’s side, it seems. Erik glares at all of them, which keeps them away well enough. Erik has never taken well to being fussed over. Why should that change just because there’s a bullet in his spine? He lets Hank come close at Charles’ insistence and tries to cut back on his glaring when Hank kneels beside him. Just enough to not give Hank any ideas about leaving him here to die. He’s not going to start acting like Charles, either.

 

“Erik, don’t move. And Charles, be careful not to move him about too much. If it’s a spinal cord injury, moving might make it worse,” Hank warns. 

 

Erik nods. He’s not planning on moving anyway. Actually… Now that he stops to think about it for a moment… “You know, Hank, I don’t believe that will be a problem at all. I can’t move my legs. I can’t… I can’t feel them, actually.” 

 

“Oh. Well. That could be lots of things. Won’t know anything for sure until we’ve gotten you a proper medical check,” Hank says. 

 

It’s not even the slightest bit convincing and Erik goes back to glaring at him properly. “I’m neither an idiot, nor a child. Show a little respect and don’t lie to guard my feelings.” 

 

Hank is mostly quiet after that, which Erik is fine with. He’s well accustomed to working through pain, but at the moment, when his body won’t let him just walk it off, no matter how much he might want to, it’s hard to focus. Erik is never completely unconscious - he thinks, he actually can’t say for sure - but the world seems to rush by him as he lays there, laying in Charles’ arms and bleeding all over the sand. His world narrows down to fuzzy darkness and the occasional snippets of Charles’ conversation that make it through the fog. 

 

\----

 

_ “We’ll get you home, Erik, I promise.”  _

 

_ “You get us to New York right now and of your own will, Azazel, and I won’t ruin your brain to the point you spend every waking moment from now on thinking you’re a kitten.” _

 

_ “No, Hank, not a hospital. Erik hates hospitals. We go to the manor and you bring a doctor there, I don’t care how much it costs.”  _

 

_ “What do you mean I can’t sit in on his operation? He’s my bloody boyfriend! Oh, Dr. Rikter, don’t look so appalled. Think one more thought about sodomy and I’ll wipe every memory except medical school from your mind, I really will.”  _

 

_ “Hello, love. Hank and the doctors say you need to rest and I’m sure they’re right, but I miss talking to you.”  _

 

_ “Raven and the boys are worried sick. Alex and Hank are too stubborn to admit, but they would have missed you almost as much as me.”  _

 

_ “The bed is very lonely all alone. Better to stay here with you.” _

 

_ “I’ll read to you a bit, how’s that sound?”  _

 

\-----

 

The next time he’s fully aware of the world around him, it’s Gd knows how many days later and instead of in a bloodied flight suit, he’s in sleeping pants and a hospital gown. He panics for just a moment, ready to leave this place in an instant, no matter if he can feel his legs or not, but another second helps him realize that it’s not a hospital. Not really. It’s the basement of the mansion, where they’d started making a medical area for their people. It hadn’t been finished, but Erik is here and not dead, so it must have been enough. 

 

Erik grunts softly, trying to sit up and finding it’s much more of a struggle now that his legs are still numb. He’s not an idiot. He knows if his lower body is paralyzed now, it probably will be until the day he dies. He doesn’t want to think about that right now, though. He’d much rather add that to the bottom of the pile of things in his life he ignores. It’s made slightly easier when he spots Charles fast asleep and slumped over in a chair by his bed. It’s always been easy to not worry about himself when there’s Charles to worry about. 

 

“Charles,” he mumbles, surprising himself with how rough his voice sounds. He doesn’t want to think about how long it’s been. Erik reaches forward, as far as he can before a wave of pain shoots up him and he’s forced to stop. Thankfully, Charles rouses from his sleep and is quick to lean forward and meet him, taking Erik’s hand in his. 

 

“Erik,” he breathes out, grasping Erik’s hand like he can’t quite believe it’s there. “You gave us quite the scare, love.” 

 

“I’m very good at that sort of thing.” Erik laughs, then closes his eyes and leans his head back, because it’s the only thing he can do that doesn’t ache. 

 

“You’ve been in and out of it for a few days,” Charles explains. “Two surgeries so far, to minimize the damage. However, there’s only so much that could be done and I’m afraid - I’m terribly sorry, my friend, but-” 

 

Erik raises a hand to cut him off. “No. Let’s not… Let’s not talk about that right now. There’s no need. I know where that sentence will end. Let’s put it off a bit longer, why don’t we?” 

 

“All right,” Charles mumbles, pulling his chair closer and sitting there with Erik’s hand in his. “Other than the obvious, how are you feeling?” 

 

“Shaw is dead and I’m not. I feel fantastic,” Erik answers simply. It’s not the whole truth, but it’s not really a lie either. It’s the best they can do. “You, however, look like you could do with a night of sleep in a proper bed.” 

 

Charles scoffs, running his thumb along the top of Erik’s hand. Normally, Erik would find the touch foolish. Right now, it’s a nice distraction from the rest. “Don’t be silly. I wanted to be here when you woke.” 

 

“I don’t understand why.” Erik opens his eyes again, looking at Charles carefully, as though staring for another minute might solve the riddles he’s spent all summer dealing with. 

 

“Erik I love… I care for you very deeply. I could never see you hurt and just walk away,” he insists. “I’d have stayed here at your side even if you’d taken weeks to wake up again.” 

 

Erik doesn’t deserve this. Not in the slightest. This is his own fault, for not paying attention as he should. Even if it wasn’t his own fault, he’s a murderer and he’d dragged Charles down into that with him when he’d killed Shaw’s with Charles’ unwilling assistance. No one should be waiting so nervously at his bedside, but least of all Charles. If Erik were to say this, he knows Charles would never listen. So he does what he always does. He does his very best to destroy every good thing that’s ever been in his life, so he can see it go on his own terms instead. 

 

“I wouldn’t have stayed. If it was you, I mean, I wouldn’t have stayed,” Erik says. What hurts the most is that it’s true and they must both know it, if Charles had gone into his head for even a moment while he’d been unconscious. 

 

Despite that, Charles shakes his head. “No… I don’t think that’s true, love. Perhaps you think you would have, but you’re a better man than you think you are. I think you would have stayed with me and been even fussier than I am.” 

 

They are probably both accutely aware how much of a fantasy that is, a rewriting of the history between them, but Erik decides not to fight it anymore. He can let Charles have this fantasy, this little game of make believe. Erik is content to pretend he’s not a cripple for a while longer. Why shouldn’t he let Charles pretend he’s the kind boyfriend he seems to think he is? They can both use a little fiction in their lives. 

**Author's Note:**

> for questions, prompts, or chatting I can be found on tumblr at [sebbym17](http://sebbym17.tumblr.com/) (I have a couple of prompts I still need to get to, but I get to them eventually, I promise!)


End file.
